Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Fantasy Baseball: Shortstops

The 2017 Major League Baseball season is just around the
corner so you know what that means, right? That means that it’s almost fantasy
baseball 2017 time as well so over the next couple of days I will be going over
a few fantasy baseball related topics to get you ready for your draft. I do
these every year so if I’ve helped you in the past or if this is your first
time taking my advice then keep this and my many fantasy related posts
bookmarked and be sure to tell me know how the information works out for you,
good or bad. I can take criticism, especially when I ask for it on a day-to-day
basis. For this post we will focus on the shortstops around the league and who
you need to grab, and potentially how early you need to grab them, before all
the good ones are gone.

If you’re going after the top shortstop in the league one
would have to think you would be looking at Houston Astros shortstop Carlos
Correa. Correa, just 22-years old, has hit over 20 home runs in each of his
last season while also stealing nearly 14 bases a season in that same span. If
you miss on Correa there are many other young and top shortstops to be had
including the Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jonathan Villar, the Boston Red Sox
shortstop Xander Bogaerts, the Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor,
the Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and my hometown pick from the New
York Yankees, Mr. Didi Gregorius.

Also on the top shortstops list is the Los Angeles Dodgers
Corey Seager, the Colorado Rockies sensation Trevor Story, the Chicago Cubs
Addison Russel, the Toronto Blue Jays Troy Tulowitzki and the Texas Rangers
Elvis Andrus. Also don’t sleep on, especially as the calendar draws near June
and July, the Yankees top prospect Gleyber Torres and New York Mets best
shortstop prospect Amed Rosario.

Villar finished the 2016 campaign with a .285 average with
19 home runs and 62 stolen bases while Bogaerts finished with a .294 average
with 21 home runs and 13 stolen bases. Lindor hit .301 with 15 home runs and 19
stolen bases on his way to the World Series while Anderson hit .283 with nine
home runs and 10 stolen bases in just 99 games.

Those are the “locks” but in every class there is a Freddy
Galvis who comes out of nowhere and hits 20 home runs in a season so the
sleepers of the 2017 class include Jose Reyes, Marcus Semien, Ketel Marte and Jedd
Gyorko. Gyorko is eligible at shortstop but likely won’t play there much in
2017 while Semien could provide 20-30 home run power with little in the way of
batting average. Reyes could be had late in your draft for obvious reasons and
could provide a spark after having a normal offseason in 2017.

So there it is, my fantasy baseball help for the shortstop
position. I hope it helps and if I missed anyone, ranked anyone too highly or
not highly enough then please be sure to let me know down below in the comments
section or on Twitter by giving @GreedyStripes a follow. Thanks!